Sep

23

Michigan State University (MSU) researchers have built a synthetic protein that acts as a molecular Swiss Army knife that streamlines the molecular machinery of cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria, what we usually think of as blue-green algae, is a base line research microorganism for making biofuels and other green chemical products. The Michigan State team has done in […]

Jun

16

Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists working with Mascoma LLC have developed a revolutionary strain of yeast that could help significantly accelerate the development of biofuels from nonfood plant matter. The approach could provide a pathway to eventual expansion of biofuels production beyond the current output limited to […]

Apr

9

Rice University scientists found they could grow high-value strains of oil-rich algae while simultaneously removing more than 90% of nitrates and more than 50% of phosphorous from wastewater. The study is one of the first studies to examine the potential for using municipal wastewater as a feedstock for algae-based biofuels. Wastewater treatment facilities currently have […]

Jan

29

Researchers Greg O’Neil of Western Washington University and Chris Reddy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have found an unusual and untapped class of chemical compounds in an algae species to synthesize two different fuel products, in parallel, a from the single algae. The algae is a common algae commercially grown to make fish food that […]

Oct

21

Khanh-Quang Tran, an associate professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s (NTNU) Department of Energy and Process Engineering turns 79% of kelp into bio-oil. Kelp, also known as seaweed, offers all of the advantages of a biofuel feedstock with the additional benefit of growing, not surprisingly, in the ocean. Tran conducted preliminary studies […]